Bad Piggies Review

Bad Piggies takes the physics puzzling gameplay of Angry Birds and mashes it together with the simple vehicle building found in games like Fantastic Contraption and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The result is a much deeper, more rewarding and more creative experience than anything Rovio has produced previously.

This time around gamers play as the franchise’s dastardly green pigs, on a mission to steal the birds’ eggs. To reach the end of each stage players have to construct a vehicle using a pre-set pool of available parts. Construction is simple and intuitive – simply drag a part onto the starting grid and it will automatically snap into place.

Vehicles will move on their own according to where you place gadgets like motors, rocket boosters and wheels. While in motion, players can also tap icons to activate or deactivate most of their vehicle’s objects. A level might require you to open an umbrella to slow a descent or activate soda bottle “rockets” in multiple stages, among plenty more.

Did we like it?

Bad Piggies’ open-ended puzzle designs are absolutely brilliant. At the start of each stage you’re shown the level layout, given a collection of parts and then sent on your way. It’s up to you to invent a solution to each puzzle – there isn’t necessarily one right answer Rovio is forcing players to stumble upon.

Luckily the game’s impeccable design and excellent learning curve ensure that most players won’t remain stuck for long. You’ll start by constructing simple boxes with wheels that just need to roll downhill. By the end you’ll be constructing multi-stage rockets powered by soda bottles, helicopters adorned with helium balloons & counter-weights and plenty more genuinely elaborate constructions. The game even taught me the very basic fundamentals of airplane design.

It’s a lot of fun when a complex vehicle stuffed with rockets, balloons, motors and wheels performs exactly as expected and crosses the goal line intact, but Bad Piggiesis almost more fun when you make a miscalculation. It made me laugh every time a vehicle careened into a wall one second after launch, because I underestimated how powerful my rocket would be. Your pig’s expression changes from delight to concern when things start to go sideways and constructions explode into cartoony words when they fall apart. Vehicles creak and bend dangerously when you build something unstable. These little details do a lot to keep a smile plastered on your face while you play.

Although I felt far more in control of my destiny playing Bad Piggies than any Angry Birds games, the results can still feel a bit random at times. Triggering a rocket just a split-second earlier can be the difference between epic success and epic failure. Bad Piggies also isn’t friendly to players that get completely, hopelessly stuck. Your only in-game option is to pay $1.99 to purchase a 10-pack of level solutions.

Should you but it?

Bad Piggies is a ridiculously good value for its $0.99 - $2.99 asking price. Each of the 72 stages have three stars to collect, but this time around each star is its own unique challenge, further adding to the game’s depth and replay value. One star might require not using a critical vehicle part, while another requires players to make it through the stage within a tight time limit. It makes each level a collection of three distinct challenges, forcing gamers to have complete mastery over the game’s vehicle physics.

The game’s five special sandbox stages offer extra challenge once players reach the endgame. Unlike the normal levels, these sandbox environments sprawl in every direction. Players are given a huge construction grid and a huge pile of vehicle parts and encouraged to go nuts trundling after the level’s numerous star crates tucked off in out-of-the-way corners.

Serious iOS gamers should note that Rovio once again refused to make a Universal app or support iCloud, however. For now the game also doesn’t support the iPhone 5’s bigger screen size.

THE VERDICT

Bad Piggies is the best title Rovio has released yet, eclipsing Angry Birds Space. The open-ended puzzles work your brain while also allowing you to be creative. Thanks to Rovio’s infectiously amusing, cheerful style you’ll be smiling ear-to-ear watching your creations come to life regardless of whether you succeed or fail.